We have referred to _"irregularities" in the course of the "deficiency diseases."_ A careful perusal of the literature leaves one with the impression that the most experienced observers are not entirely satisfied with the exclusively etiologic relationship of the vitamine to its respective nutritional disorder. In regard to scurvy, more particularly, there are numerous scattered reports where the disorder did not yield to antiscorbutic foods as might have been expected, or where, on the other hand, it suddenly and inexplicably retrogressed, although there had been no alteration in the dietary.[27] These instances are not common, but they occur from time to time, and their occurrence must be accounted for. In relation to beriberi and avian polyneuritis improvement of this kind has frequently been explained on the theory of a sudden mobilization of vitamines from the tissues. There is, however, no data on which to base such explanations, and it may be that a lack of parallelism between vitamine intake and the clinical course may be due at times to processes taking place in the alimentary tract. [27] Neumann, for example, writes that he has seen at least four children whose condition was not improved, although in addition to the milk, they took asparagus, spinach, and other vegetables or apple sauce. Some years ago we had a similar experience. It has likewise happened that infantile scurvy did not recur, although the diet was the same as that which originally led to the disorder. The fat-soluble vitamine has been termed by some the growth vitamine. All the vitamines, however, are closely associated with the function of growth, which their deficiency tends to inhibit. In the chapter on symptomatology, it will be pointed out that infants suffering from scurvy fail to grow normally both in length and in weight. To a certain extent this may be due to a loss of appetite, which is one of the characteristic phenomena accompanying the scorbutic condition. On the other hand, this anorexia may be secondary and not primary to the impairment of the growth impulse, which may lead to a dysfunction of various body processes.